Recently, I attended the 11th Annual Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit in Washington, D.C., which joined together agricultural and rural leaders from across North America to discuss issues affecting agriculture, as well as new agricultural programs and policies. While I was there, I participated in a panel to speak on Assembly legislation that would create and license farm breweries (A.7449-A).
In our discussion, I highlighted the proliferation of wineries in our state, explaining how our wineries have grown into one of our most important and successful agricultural products and have created substantial new tourism to our state. The success of New York’s wine industry demonstrates how profitable this market can be. The next step is to expand and build off that success, continuing to invest in our state’s finest resources – our people and land. The farm breweries bill would do just that, helping to revitalize local economies and giving farmers a whole new market to develop and create jobs using the success of our wineries as a model.
The potential of this bill is substantial. Not only would it issue licenses to allow farmers to manufacture beer and cider, it would also allow farm breweries to produce and sell a variety of other items, like mustards, sauces, beer nuts and other related condiments and products. Additionally, certain percentages of the ingredients used including hops, would have to be grown in New York expanding our farming opportunities.
New York is home to successful agriculture, a growing wine industry and a number of New York-based breweries. But while New York’s wine industry flourished in recent years, brewing practices took a back seat. Now, we have a bill that would allow farm breweries to open, creating a new market for farms and beer enthusiasts statewide and giving farmers the chance to capitalize on hops, a crop that once reigned king in Central New York.
Hops has a strong history in New York, dating back to 1808, when James Coolidge planted New York State’s first recorded commercial hop yard in Madison County.i From that point forward, hops became a booming cash crop in New York and soared successfully until the early 1900’s when disease and pests devastated New York’s hop industry which produced 90 precent of the nation’s hops. Prohibition, several years later was the death knell for New York hops.
Today, we see the success of upstate breweries like Saranac and Troy’s own Brown’s Brewing Company. Expanding this market and providing our farmers with new and sustainable products will help invigorate local economies and spur growth in New York agriculture. The industry will continue to strengthen our agriculture and tourism industries providing farmers a new crop helping to preserve farm land, creating new farms and developing another source for tourism.
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